The Efficacy of Glutamine Supplementation in Severe Adult Burn Patients: A Systematic Review With Trial Sequential Meta-Analysis

Ortiz-Reyes L 1 , Lee ZY 2 , Chin Han Lew C 3 , Hill A 4 , Jeschke MG 5 , Turgeon AF 6 Show all authors , Cancio L 7 , Stoppe C 8 , Patel JJ 9 , Day AG 10 , Heyland DK 1

Affiliations 

  • 1 Clinical Evaluation Research Unit, Department of Critical Care Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada
  • 2 Department of Anaesthesiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 3 Department of Dietetics & Nutrition, Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, Singapore
  • 4 Department of Anesthesiology and Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Medical Faculty RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany
  • 5 Department of Surgery, McMaster University, Hamilton, Hamilton Health Sciences, Hamilton, ON, Canada
  • 6 Population Health and Optimal Health Practices Research Unit (Trauma-Emergency-Critical Care Medicine), CHU de Quebec-Universite Laval Research Center, Quebec City, QC, Canada
  • 7 United States Army Institute of Surgical Research, JBSA Fort Sam Houston, TX
  • 8 Department of Anesthesiology, Würzburg University, Würzburg, Germany
  • 9 Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI
  • 10 Clinical Evaluation Research Unit, Department of Critical Care Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston Health Sciences Centre, Kingston, ON, Canada
Crit Care Med, 2023 Aug 01;51(8):1086-1095.
PMID: 37114912 DOI: 10.1097/CCM.0000000000005887

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Evidence supporting glutamine supplementation in severe adult burn patients has created a state of uncertainty due to the variability in the treatment effect reported across small and large randomized controlled trials (RCTs). We aimed to systematically review the effect of glutamine supplementation on mortality in severe adult burn patients.

DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, and Cochrane Central were searched from inception to February 10, 2023.

STUDY SELECTION: RCTs evaluating the effect of enteral or IV glutamine supplementation alone in severe adult burn patients were included.

DATA EXTRACTION: Two reviewers independently extracted data on study characteristics, burn injury characteristics, description of the intervention between groups, adverse events, and clinical outcomes.

DATA SYNTHESIS: Random effects meta-analyses were performed to estimate the pooled risk ratio (RR). Trial sequential analyses (TSA) for mortality and infectious complications were performed. Ten RCTs (1,577 patients) were included. We observed no significant effect of glutamine supplementation on overall mortality (RR, 0.65, 95% CI, 0.33-1.28; p = 0.21), infectious complications (RR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.63-1.09; p = 0.18), or other secondary outcomes. In subgroup analyses, we observed no significant effects based on administration route or burn severity. We did observe a significant subgroup effect between single and multicenter RCTs in which glutamine significantly reduced mortality and infectious complications in singe-center RCTs but not in multicenter RCTs. However, TSA showed that the pooled results of single-center RCTs were type 1 errors and further trials would be futile.

CONCLUSIONS: Glutamine supplementation, regardless of administration, does not appear to improve clinical outcomes in severely adult burned patients.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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